Digital Afrique Telecom launches new payment service

13.10.16

Digital Afrique Telecom (DAT) has launched DigiPay, a transaction processing platform that enables service providers to deliver mobile financial products and services to their customers in Africa. Simplice Anoh, Founder and CEO of DAT unveiled the new service at the second annual conference L’Afrique Digitale, in Paris.

DigiPay is available for use by mobile network operators, banks and other financial institutions, subscription-based service providers, international remittance companies, among other providers. Transactions via DigiPay are fast and secure and can be done via mobile devices or web-based portals.

Simplice Anoh, said, “We are delighted to launch a service that will unlock access to finance and foster economic growth in Africa. At DAT, we take advantage of the opportunities that technology brings to people across the continent. We are confident that DigiPay will address a range of socio-economic challenges, especially financial inclusion, and provide a gateway to vital services such as education and healthcare.”

Mobile payments can lower the cost of providing financial services by 80 to 90 percent, enabling providers to serve lower-income customers profitably, according to recent research by McKinsey & Company.

DigiPay empowers a network of merchants and agents to accept electronic payments of goods and services from different mobile money wallets. DAT provides the agents with e-wallets which enable them to perform various transactions such as air time top ups, bill payments, bank deposits and withdrawals.

“Millions of people in Africa own mobile phones, but the same cannot be said of bank accounts,” Mr. Anoh said. “It is important to create financial services so that about 250 million “un-banked” Africans can have access to mobile banking. That’s our mission at DAT.”

Farmers in Africa can also buy and sell agricultural products by using DigiPay. The new service serves as a proof of income for the farmers.

For more information on this service, please contact info@groupedigital.com.

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CEO Simplice Anoh shares his advice on how to succeed in African digital markets

10.10.16

They say in Africa, one person feeds 10 people. We have over have over 125 employees at Digital Afrique Telecom, so we are feeding more than 1,250 people on a daily basis. It is a whole information ecosystem that we are building to offer Africans better access to digital services. In the ten years since DAT was founded, we have grown our presence to 25 countries and have 110 million people within our network. It wasn’t easy, but for me Africa has the best opportunities for growth within the digital space. For example, 250 million unbanked Africans will be using mobile technology in 2018. At DAT, we want to be part of the solution.

Here is my advice on how to succeed in African digital markets:

Do your research

You cannot sit there and say you want to do business in Africa. You have to go out there, spend some time in Africa, do some benchmarking to know what services will work.

Focus is the key

The landscape of mobile services is very vast: you can use mobile technology across many sectors such as finance, infrastructure and entertainment. You must choose one area to start with as you cannot do everything at once.

Know your market

When starting your business, know that your competition is based on the market of each African country. If you go pan-African immediately, there are too many players involved. DAT is a pan-African player, but it took us 10 years to build up our reputation and make this happen.

After studying in Kellogg and Harvard, I could have stayed in the US and watched people play. Instead, I went back to Africa to be a key player. It is a golden opportunity to help the African population through digital solutions, and this is what we offer at DAT.

On the 13th October, I will be sharing more about DAT’s 10 year journey at the Le Point L’Afrique Digitale conference in Paris. I will be contributing to the Banks vs Telecom, and Competition or Cooperation panel discussions, I look forward to taking part in this event.

“L’Afrique Digitale 2016”, DAT will be there!

24.08.16

The magazine Le Point Afrique, in partnership with Digital Afrique Telecom, is happy to present to you the second annual conference L’Afrique Digitale, which will take place Thursday October 13th 2016, in Paris.

This exclusive session will allow you to all the companies evolving in the digitalization of Africa – State, cities, companies, telecom, bank – to know how the states are adapting to the evolution, to find funding, and to rely on cities to take over the numeric transformation of the continent. Meet us there! Sign-up | The Program

The conference in a few words

Mobile banking, e and m-commerce, e-governement, smart cities… The african continent is now fully emerged into the numeric transformation!

Nonetheless, the challenges are still important for governments and enterprises : deployment of infrastructures to support the digitalization, support of e-administration initiatives, funding, defining business models to support the digital growth.

In the 2ème annual conference «l’Afrique Digitale », Le Point Afrique will get together on october 13th, at the prestigious Musée Dapper, all the parties involved in the digitalization of Africa to debate!